Have you played the “Greater Than Less Than Game“? Most people have played some version of the game, but probably don’t recall what the game was called. This game has a myriad of different names, but the one I like best is The Geetee Eltee Game. It is a basic game with huge potential for the classroom and home learning environments. While you can invest some cash and purchase specialist flashcards to play the game, all you really need is a deck of playing cards. While the directions below are written for a classroom environment, they can easily be adapted for homeschooling odd or even-sized groups of students. Yes, this game even works if you are homeschooling a single child. All you need is a student, a willing Dad or Mom, and a deck of cards.
What is the purpose of The Geetee Eltee Game?
The Greater Than Less Than Game familiarizes students (K-1) with number ranking and the concepts of “greater than” and “less than“. The non-threatening environment of the game encourages children to rehearse the skill of number evaluation and comparison for extended periods of time, often far in excess of what they would commit to when completing worksheets or similar activities. Often avoidance of the extended practice of basic mathematical skills is what keeps students from developing competence in those skills. By cloaking the skill development in a game, most students have fun and are totally oblivious to the fact that they are doing basic mathematics.
What will I need to play the game?
One deck of playing cards per two students in the class.
How do we play the game?
1. Remove the jokers, aces, jacks, queens, and kings from the pack. Number values can be allocated to these cards and they can be reintroduced at a later stage, but it is best that the students become comfortable with the game before adding this extra level of complexity.
2. Have everyone in the class pair up. (Where necessary, use a group of three so everyone participates.)
3. Allocate a pack of cards to each pair of students, and divide the pack equally between the two students. The task of shuffling and dividing the pack in half can be given to each group, if time allows. Students must keep their half-pack of cards face downwards. No peeping at the cards before or during the game.
4. The students take turns to count to three. At the count of 3, each student flips their top card to reveal its number. The student with the highest value takes both cards and puts them at the bottom of their pack. What happens if both students reveal cards with the same number? In the case of a tie, each student returns their card to the bottom of their pack and the game continues.
5. The game ends when one of the two students has taken all the cards. If you see that you will run out of class time before the majority of students have finished the game, stop everyone 5 minutes before the end of the class. Have each student count their cards. The student with the most cards in each group is the winner.
Warning: Be prepared for a little noise. Students may forget that they are “learning” and become quite excited while playing.
If mathematical graphs are generally not your cup of tea, perhaps you should try a cup of coffee instead? How about a cup of coffee that is sketched from a collection of equations your students might recognize? That’s not quite your textbook flavor of graphing mathematics, is it?
